Israel is losing the battle for international public opinion not because its case is weak, but because it fails to make its strongest legal and historical arguments, according to Farley Weiss, president of the Israel Justice Organization.
In an interview at the JNS Media Hub in Jerusalem on July 26, the American intellectual property attorney and longtime Israel activist argued that Israeli leaders and advocates spend too much time responding to accusations instead of challenging what he described as false narratives surrounding Israel’s legitimacy.
“We need to spend 90% of the time attacking instead and of 90% defending,” Weiss said. “When you’re defending, you’re already losing the fight.”
Weiss, a former national president of the National Council of Young Israel, said pro-Israel advocates should place greater emphasis on what he believes are binding historical and legal foundations for Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel.
His recently published book with co-author and Talmudic and international law scholar, Leonard Grunstein, Because It’s Just and Right: The Untold Backstory of the U.S. Recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel and the Moving of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recounts the decades-long effort that culminated in the U.S. embassy’s move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018.
The title comes from former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, who, Weiss recalled, would answer a simple question whenever people asked why he championed recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“‘Because it’s just and right,’” Weiss said.
The book traces Weiss’s own involvement beginning in 1995, when he served as president of Young Israel of Phoenix and worked with Kyl’s office as the senator pursued legislation to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
According to Weiss, Congress overwhelmingly approved the Jerusalem Embassy Act despite opposition from then-President Bill Clinton.
Historical and legal claims
Weiss argued that Israel’s defenders often overlook legal precedents that, in his view, reinforce Jewish claims to Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem.
Among them, he cited the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and the subsequent Anglo-American Treaty between the United States and Great Britain in 1924 that “adopted the League of Nations decision to give the Jewish people sovereignty over all of Israel, including Judea and Samaria and all of Jerusalem,” which he said was a “reconstitution of the Jewish homeland in the State of Israel and remain central legal documents supporting Jewish national rights and the right of Jews around the world to return and receive citizenship in this land.
“I don’t ever hear them talk about the Anglo-American Treaty. I don’t ever hear them talk about the League of Nations decision in 1922,” he said.
Weiss also pointed to biblical sources, arguing that Jewish sovereignty rests on both religious tradition and historical inheritance.
“The Jewish people have a better right to the Land of Israel than any people in the world have to any land in the world,” he said.
He rejected claims that Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria violate international law, saying many accepted legal interpretations ignore earlier international agreements recognizing Jewish national rights.
Countering the false narrative
Drawing on his legal background, Weiss said Israel should fundamentally change how it presents its case abroad.
Quoting a well-known legal maxim, he said: “If your argument is best on the facts, you pound the facts. If it’s best on the law, you pound the law. If it’s best on neither, you pound the table.”
He argued that Israel’s opponents have become adept at “pounding-the-table messaging” while pro-Israel advocates often fail to challenge inaccurate claims.
Among the examples Weiss cited was Article 24 of the PLO’s 1964 Palestinian National Covenant, which relinquished any territorial claim to the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), including eastern Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip because “their whole goal was to destroy the Jewish state of Israel and not to create a Palestinian Arab state.”
“This Organization does not exercise any regional sovereignty over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the Gaza Strip or in the Himmah Area,” it read.
Optimism despite rising antisemitism
While acknowledging rising antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment in many parts of the world, Weiss said he remains optimistic.
He pointed to what he described as unprecedented support for Israel from leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump, Argentina’s President Javier Milei and several Latin American governments.
“We actually have the most pro-Israel president in the history of the State of Israel in President Trump,” Weiss said.
Rather than dwelling on negative trends, he urged pro-Israel organizations to capitalize on favorable political opportunities while aggressively confronting antisemitism.
He criticized what he viewed as inadequate prosecution of antisemitic violence in the United States, citing the killing of Jewish demonstrator Paul Kessler in California, in which the murderer only received a one-year jail sentence.
“When people are not getting punished for the crimes they commit against Jews, that’s the danger,” he said.
Israel’s resilience
Weiss arrived in Israel to compete in the 2026 Maccabiah Games, held from June 30 to July 14, where the former professional tennis player won a silver medal in singles and a bronze medal in doubles in the 60-64 age group. The visit also allowed Weiss and his family to spend time with their daughter and son-in-law who made aliyah last October, he said.
Reflecting on the country’s wartime atmosphere, Weiss said he was inspired by Israelis’ willingness to serve despite nearly three years of conflict.
“The strength and bravery are off the charts,” he said.
He recalled hearing retired Maj. Gen. Effi Eitam describe joining the fighting after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, despite being in his seventies.
“You get such strength just being here and meeting these people,” Weiss said. “The attitude and the bravery are amazing.”
He said his goal in the United States is to support Israelis fighting on the front lines by strengthening political backing for Israel in Washington.
“We have an amazing friend,” he said of Trump. “We want to take advantage of that.”
You can watch the full interview here.
